Flanging-machine



9 No. 625,789. Patented May 30, I899.

G. E. MACBETH. FLANGING MACHINE.

(Application filed. Jan. 27, 1899.)

7 a alg s e-Es Witnesses: Inventor Attorney Patented May 30, 1899.

c. E. MACBETH. FLA'NGING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 27, 1899.)

Attorney (No Model Witnesses:

s Pzvzns co. Punraufiu. wmumorou u c NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. MACBETH, OF HAMILTON, OHIO.

FLANGINGI-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters; Patent No. 625,789, dated May 30,1899. Application filed January 27, 1899. Serial No. 703,553. (Nomodel.)

i To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. MAoBETH, of Hamilton, Butler county,Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFlanging-Maohines, of which the following is a specification.

Necessity frequently arises for strips of plate metal to be formed intochannels by having flanges bent upon their edges. For instance, in theconstruction of certain kinds of wheels for agricultural implements therim of the wheel is formed by taking a long strip of plate metal andflanging its edges and punching it for spokes and other attachments andthen rolling the channeled iron into rim form. My invention pertains toa machine for flanging such strips and, if desired, for simultaneouslypunching the holes therein.

My invention will be readily understood from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a vertical transverse section of the machine in the plane ofthedotted line appearing in Fig. 3, the dies being open and the plate 5being in position in flat form ready to be acted upon; Fig. 2, an. endelevation of the same, the dies being closed and the plate 5 having beenflanged and punched; and Fig. 3, an elevation of the right-hand side ofFig. 1.

In the drawings, confining attention for the present to Fig. 1, 1indicates the lower-die holder of the machine in theform of a bedpiecehaving a length and width suited to the strip to be flanged; 2, thelower die, secured fixedly therein and presenting a flat upper surfacehaving a width less than that of the strip to be flanged and having alength at least equal to the length of the strip; 3, cheekstrips securedto the side edges of and forming parts of die 2 and being made separabletherefrom only by reason of the desire to provide renewable hardenedparts at the main working points of the die, the outer faces of thesecheek-strips being somewhat undercut or beveled, so as to give the upperportion of die 2 a dovetail cross-section; 4, punchdies secured in theupper face of die 2 at points corresponding with holes desired to bepunched in the strip which is to be flanged, these punch-dies beingdisposed singly or in groups, as required, and die 2 being perforatedbelow them in order to permit the down ward passage of the wads producedby the punches; 5, the strip of metal to be flanged, the same resting onthe upper surface of die 2, with its edges projecting over the sides ofthe die a distance corresponding with the desired width of the flanges;6, suitable opening through die-holder 1 to permit the downward passageof the punch-wads from punchdies 4; 7, abutments firmly secured todieholder 4, one at each side of die 2, these abutments having the formof long bars bolted to the die-holder, channels being thus formedbetween the inner faces of the abutments and the outer faces ofdie-cheeks 3; 8, bolts securing abutments 7 to the die-holder, thesebolts engaging slots, so that the abutments may be adjustedtransversely; 9, set-screws in the die-holder 1, impinging againstabutments Z and serving as means for adjusting the abutmentstransversely and for resisting their outward movement under workingstrains; 10, the inner surfaces of abutments 7, the same being beveledto form upward flares; 11, gages supported by die-holder 1 at one sideof die 2 to serve in gaging the setting position for strip 5 when it isinserted in the machine; 12, the upper-die holder, being a longstructure much like the lower-die holder; 13, the upper die, firmlysecured therein, its lower face corresponding in dimensionssubstantially with those of the upper face of die 2 and its cheeks 3;14, punches secured in die 13 and projecting downwardly therefrom andadapted to cooperate with punch-dies 4; 15, a stripper-plate disposedbelow die 13 and 'havin g corresponding horizontal dimensions, thisstripper-plate forming in efiect the upper-die element coming in contactwith the upper surface of the strip to be flanged; 16, springs engagingbetween die 13 and strippervplate 15 and urging the stripper-platedownward away from die 13; 17, vertical screws fixed in stripper-plate15 and having sliding engagement with suitableholes in die 13, thesescrews permitting the stripper-plate to move upwardly against die 13,while the heads of the screws limit the downward movement of thestripper-plate with reference to that die; 18, side-die plates carriedby the under side of die-holder 12 at each side of die 13,

these side-die plates-extending the length of die-holder 12 and beingcapable of transverse sliding motion on the die-holder to and from die13; 19, screws securing plates 18 to dieholder 12 and engaging slots inthe plates, so as to permit of the transverse sliding motion justreferred to; 20, ears projecting up from plates 18 outside die-holder12; 21, springs engaging between die-holder 12 and ears 20 and urgingplates 18 outwardly; 22,side dies in the form of bars firmly secured tothe lower inner portions of and forming rigid parts of the plates 18,the inner faces of these dies being beveled in correspondence with thebevel of checks 3 of the lower die and the lower face of dies 22 beingsomewhat above the plane of the lower face of stripper-plate 15 when thestripper-plate occupiesits downward position relative to the die 13; 23,the outer surfaces of dies 22, the same being beveled in correspondencewith the bevel of abutm en ts 7, and 24 the inner lower corners of dies22.

The die-holders are to be secured in any suitable machine adapted forgiving the dies the proper motion of approach and recession. Forinstance, they may be used in an ordinary gang-punching machine havingappropriate dimensions and suitable power, the lower-die holder 1 beingsecured to the bedj aw of such machine and the upper-die holder 12 beingsecured to the ram. The dies being open, as in Fig. 1, strip 5 is placedin position on die 2, with the edges of the strip projectingappropriately over the edges of the die.

.The upper die now descends, the first effect being to bringstripper-plate 15 in contact with the upper surface of the strip and toclamp the strip between the stripper-plate and the lower die and overthe entire surface of the lower die. The continued descent of theupper-die holder results in punches 14E producing the desired holes inthe strip. At about the time the strip is attacked by the punches sidedies 22 reach the upper surface of the strip, and as the upper diedescends side dies 22 bend the sides of the strip downwardly and formthe flanges, as indicated in Fig. 2. If side dies 22 were immovablyfixed to die-holder 12 and the distance between corners 24 equaled thetotal width of lower die 2 plus double the thickness of strip 5, thenthe strip would obviously have the flanges bent upon it, in which casethe working of the machine would represent a very common flangingoperation; but in the case just assumed the corners 24 would attack thestrip very close to the corners of the lower die, over which the bendingis to take place, and the result would be that the metal of the stripwould be subjected to an extremely sharp and sudden and violent bendingoperation. As the grain of the metal runs lengthwise ofthe strip, thisviolent and sudden bending is liable to split and destroy the strip.Again, the accuracy of the bending in the assumed case would bedependent upon the distance between dies 22 being accurately incorrespondence with the total width of die 2 plus the double thicknessof strip metal. Uniformity in the thickness of a large number of stripscannot be depended upon, and consequently the accuracy of thecorner-bending would be interfered with and, as may be well understood,a very slight excess in thickness in strips would bring extraordinaryand possibly fatal strains upon the side dies. Again, in the assumedcase the action would permit the flanges to be bent downwardly at rightangles only, and the elasticityof the metal of the strip would causemore or less recovery at the bend, thus interfering with uniformity ofthe bend at the corners of the flanging; but in the constructiondescribed let it be noticed that when the side dies 22 first attack thestrip their corners 24 stand outwardly away from the corners of thelower die'a distance considerably in excess of the thickness of themetal of the strip. Hence when the bending of the strip begins theprojecting portions of the strip act as bending-levers and take asomewhat free curve over the corners of the lower diea curve to whichthe metal of the strip may well lend itself without danger ofdestruction of the strip. Up to this stage the bending may be describedas curved bends taking place over the comparatively sharp corners of thelower die. When this preliminary curved bend has been produced, outersurfaces 23 of the side dies engage surfaces 10 of the abutments 7, andas the upper work continues to descend the side dies are forced inward,un-

til finally at the completion of the operation the inner faces of theside dies, moving inwardly as they move downwardly, have sharpened upthe corner-bends and pressed the flanges of the strip fairly against theside faces of the lower die. By this method the corner-bending isproduced by starting it easily and later giving it the desiredsharpness. At the same time the flanges may be bent inwardly beyond aright angle, thus permitting the formation of a dovetailedchannel-strip, if such be desired. If, however, only a rightangledflanging be desired, then the dovetailing action of the dies may belimited to such degree as will merely compensate for the recovery oroutward springing of the flanges after being released from the dies.Thus, desiring flanges at right angles to the strip and ascertaining theangle of recovery due to the elasticity of the material, the dies may becast to produce an excessive angle of flanging, which excess will beabsorbed by the clastic recovery of the material.

In the illustration much of the multiplicity of parts is incident to thedesire to provide for ready renewal or adjustment of parts. Thus dies 2and 13, forming when in operation integral parts of their holders, aremade separable from them. Similarly, side dies 22' are separably securedto the plates 18, with which they are integral in operation, and so withdie-cheeks 3 and punch-dies 4. Abutments 10 are in the operation of themachine rigid with reference to the lower die, but being separablysecured with relation thereto provision is had for their replacement andadjustment, set-screws 9 serving as means for adjusting the abutmentsinwardly to suit various thicknesses of strip metal.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a flanging-machine, the combination,substantially as set forth, of a lower die having a cross-sectioncorresponding with the channel to be produced in a flanged strip, anupper die, a plate disposed between the upper die and the lower die andarranged for limited motion downward from the upper die, springs urgingsaid plate away from said upper die, side dies carried with the upperdie and capable of motion transverse thereto, and means for moving saidside dies inwardly during the latter part of their descending motion.

2. In a fianging-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a lower die having a cross-section corresponding with the channel tobe produced in a flanged strip, a punch-die in said lower die, an upperdie, a

punch carried thereby to cooperate with said punch-die, a stripper-plateyieldingly mounted between the upper and lower dies, side dies carriedwith the upper die and capable of motion transverse thereto, and meansfor moving said side dies inwardly during the latter portion of theirdescending motion.

3. In a flanging-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a die-holder, a

lower die supported thereby and having a CHARLES E. MAOBETH.

Witnesses:

SAM D. FITTON, Jr., CHARLES M. ROBERTSON.

